Islamic militant attack in Egypt’s Sinai kills 23 troops

EL-ARISH, Egypt — Islamic militants in Egypt’s Sinai unleashed a suicide car bomb and dozens of masked and heavily armed gunmen who descended in multiple SUVs on a remote security outpost in the desert peninsula on Friday, killing at least 23 soldiers and wounding 33, officials said.

The brazen attack was the deadliest in the past two years in Sinai and, though there was no immediate claim of responsibility, it bore all the hallmarks of the Islamic State group.

It also suggested the Sinai-based militants are among the region’s most resilient — after IS in Iraq and Syria, where the so-called caliphate is now witnessing its demise — and underscored the struggles the Egyptian forces face in trying to rein in the insurgency.

Egypt has for years battled militants in Sinai, where the jihadis have exploited the vast arid and underdeveloped region and its disgruntled Bedouin population as an ideal incubator for Islamic insurgency, but more recently, the IS affiliate had emerged at the forefront of the insurgency.

Friday’s assault began in the early morning, when a suicide bomber rammed his vehicle into a checkpoint at a military compound in the village of el-Barth, southwest of the border town of Rafah.

That was followed by dozens of masked militants who descended on the site in 24 Land Cruiser SUVs, and opened fire on the soldiers with machine guns, according to security officials.

The shooting lasted nearly half an hour, the officials added, speaking on condition of anonymity under regulations. The troops at the compound were estimated to have numbered about 60.

When the attack subsided, the militants apparently looted the checkpoint, snatching weapons and ammunition before fleeing the scene, the officials said. It was unclear if they also took armored vehicles. A number of militants were killed in the shootout, indicating the soldiers had fought back, and some of their vehicles were left at the scene, abandoned.

The suicide blast at the start of the attack likely disabled the checkpoint’s military communications system, prompting an officer to use his own cellphone to record an audio message and send it to colleague via WhatsApp, seeking help and asking for prayers.